Class Impact: Donell Harris to Miami

Class Impact: Donell Harris to Miami

Someone pointed out I missed Donell Harris’ Class Impact, so to keep the series on track, we’re going back to tie up loose ends.

After receiving an offer in June, 2021 Booker T. Washington DE Donell Harris committed to Miami after Paradise Camp back in late July.

The 6-5 210 pounder is a high 4-star in 247Sports’ early 2021 rankings, checking in at #14 overall nationally, the #2 DE in the country, and the #2 player in the Sunshine State. His commitment only helped UM’s #1 class ranking on 247Sports.

The Player

At 6’5” 210, Harris is still skinny, but as a young guy, has plenty of time to put on the necessary weight and has a great frame to do just that. Harris has that perfect long and lanky frame that you can really envision developing into a monster with a proper nutrition and strength training program. He has other early Power 5 offers from Baylor, NC State, and Syracuse.

His speed and quickness showed up at Paradise Camp back in July and he was just blowing right by most everyone on the offensive line. He dominated that camp as an underclassman. What really stands out is his change of direction, as Harris was consistently able to set his man up to the outside, then quickly burst to the inside and win his rep.

On film, what I like about Harris is that his feet never stop moving, and that’s key for someone that’s undersized like he is right now. Harris rushes in with good lean and dips low to propel himself around the edge. He flashes disruptive qualities in gaps and seemingly always finds a window to knife his way into the backfield. Instead of getting washed out of running plays due to his low weight, Harris instead shows the ability to maintain integrity and contain, and is adequate at shedding blocks to make the play. He is a high 4-star type with 5-star potential.

The Class

Harris is the third commit overall (at the time) in the 2021 class and the first defensive end. He has a strong relationship with some of the other early commits in the class in Laurence Seymore and James Williams, and the three all grew up playing ball together in Miami, which bodes well for him sticking in this class down the line. A main reason for Harris’ early commitment was so that he could help establish UM’s 2021 class as the premier class to commit to and to help attract even more talent, something Canes fans have to love.

Being nearly three years from the class of 2021’s signing day, it’s difficult to accurately predict how the numbers will shake out for this class with so many variables still undetermined. Jabari Ishmael from Columbus is the only other early offeree at DE in 2021 and Miami is in a good spot right now as his only other offer is from Ole Miss. There’ll only be two D-Ends from the current roster that will be around when Harris makes it to campus. Obviously, Miami will be taking multiple defensive linemen in the 2019 and 2020 classes as well to help balance the numbers.

Harris will likely take his freshman year to work his way into the rotation and develop his technique and body for the rigors of the college game, but he is a guy who would be helped tremendously by coming in early for spring ball. We’ve already seen players with his type of frame (Rousseau) come into Miami early seemingly destined for a redshirt, only to rapidly put on the necessary weight. By his sophomore season in 2022, there’s a good chance Harris is battling to start.

Redshirt Freshman

@Stefan Adams thanks for doing these series and introducing the new commits! Read the kid is already 17 and might "age out" by his senior year, is this correct? does he have the credits to move forward to the 2020 class?

Managing Editor

@Stefan Adams thanks for doing these series and introducing the new commits! Read the kid is already 17 and might "age out" by his senior year, is this correct? does he have the credits to move forward to the 2020 class?

Yes he just turned 17 either last week or this week. Unless it’s changed lately, it was 19 yrs and 9 months that was the limit for HS football. So he should be good for his senior year. I haven’t heard anything about him trying to reclassify at this point

Redshirt Freshman

Yes he just turned 17 either last week or this week. Unless it’s changed lately, it was 19 yrs and 9 months that was the limit for HS football. So he should be good for his senior year. I haven’t heard anything about him trying to reclassify at this point

Staff Writer

Yes he just turned 17 either last week or this week. Unless it’s changed lately, it was 19 yrs and 9 months that was the limit for HS football. So he should be good for his senior year. I haven’t heard anything about him trying to reclassify at this point